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Tom Powdrill

@tompowdrill.bsky.social
809 followers 1.4K following 1.9K posts

Labour and Capital: stewardship, labour rights, unions, pensions, corporate governance, workforce engagement

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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Very interesting that Norges Bank has spoken out on this, there is a growing attempt to roll back shareholder rights. Shareholders have had a tailwind of supportive public policy for 30 (?) years. The benefits to society of those rights are now being questioned. www.nbim.no/en/news-and-...
nbim.no
Shareholder rights under pressure | Norges Bank Investment Management
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Getting rid of the earnings link is bad news for younger workers. Those furthest from retirement will take the biggest hit. Talk about inter generational unfairness…
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
BREAKING: US identifies “foreign actor” involved in Fairford incident
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Some of the commentary around the Triple Lock is so maddeningly unthinking. You aren’t sticking it to wealthy boomers by ensuring your own future retirement income is lower.
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
A favourite holiday snap
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Tom Jenkins @tomoljenkins.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Groundbreaking win by @unifor.org ✊🏼
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
We're right up at the edge here. An MP and deputy leader of a political party playing footsie with the idea it's ok for a street gang to take the law into their own hands
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Huh, missed this last week. Despite the clear political angle on it the underlying issue is real and it applies to the UK too. What happens when the same handful of shareholders control a significant chunk of shares/votes in all the firms in a sector? uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/doj-wei...
uk.finance.yahoo.com
DOJ weighs joining state antitrust suit against BlackRock and State Street -report
Investing.com -- The U.S. Department of Justice is actively weighing whether to intervene in a high-stakes state antitrust lawsuit against asset management giants BlackRock Inc (NYSE:BLK) and State St...
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
the UK is going mad
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
How private equity ended up in limbo?chartastic piece on PE's big problem - a rising pile of unsold companies as exit routes dry up. The big questions: what happens from here and what are the consequences for everyone? by @alexandraheal.bsky.social @claradoodle.bsky.social as.ft.com/r/34f515ca-1...
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
One thing that annoys the crap out of me in commentary around wealth and tax is the implication we should be very grateful to the very rich. There’s this regular line about the UK needing to “celebrate” wealth creation, which is always in the context of the role of business leaders, not anyone else.
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I know a *bit* about pensions and a) I don’t agree with getting rid of it b) think if you are suggesting scrapping it you need to say which part(s) c) worth remembering we have been here several times before - breaking & the re-establishing the earnings link www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Britain needs cash and everyone knows we should break the pensions triple lock. Where is the courage? | Gaby Hinsliff
The issue cannot be avoided any longer. Andy Burnham and his chancellor must face the fear of a pensioner backlash, and find a fair solution, says Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff
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Jim Pickard @pickardje.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
my brilliant colleague @robertshrimsley.bsky.social on the threat from Elon Musk’s X platform www.ft.com/content/f270...
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
👀 collapse of the left beyond PSOE. Compare to when Podemos was a serious challenger
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
This seems a bit silly. a) how many people are going to see this and make the connection? b) on what grounds would it be offensive / insensitive? c) at what point in the future would it be ok for that combination of word & number to be on a football shirt? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Oxford United apologises for United 93 shirt advert
Oxford United apologises for the image, which features the call sign of one of the planes used in the 9/11 attacks.
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
There was a big (39%) vote against Ryanair's remuneration policy resolution at the AGM (resolution 3). But how much of it is explained by low turnout (a bit under 18%)? Looking at the raw numbers only about 7% of the ISC was voted against that resolution.
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Laurence Fox's cranky priest mate going full nutter
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Black Flag
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
So that right-wing meme about history: Soft men -> hard times -> hard men -> good times -> soft men etc* It’s an argument in favour of inheritance tax, right? * obviously no women were involved in the history of humankind
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Alex @m-ttpa.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Wrote a short piece on how worried shoud trade unions be/not be about a cap on political donations. Includes some thoughts on the topic in general as well.
forwardmarchoflabour.substack.com
That’s Cap
Should Trade Unions Be Worried About a Cap on Political Donations?
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
A small moment of joy in the Post Implementation Review of the company reporting regulations.
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
good stuff, as usual ludovicphalippou.substack.com/p/lp-incenti...
ludovicphalippou.substack.com
LP incentive pay: incentive for what?
I was recently asked about the growing use of performance-related compensation for the private equity investment teams of institutional investors.
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Quoted in the Mail on Sunday 🙃 www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/market...
thisismoney.co.uk
Backlash grows against Labour's 'incoherent' reporting reforms
Labour's plans to water down reporting rules for shareholder-owned firms have been condemned as 'incoherent' and showing 'a lack of joined-up thinking', it was claimed last night.
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LabourStart @labourstart.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
2,190 trade unionists from around the world have already supported this campaign - please join us! bit.ly/freeleenow
bit.ly
Hong Kong: Free Lee Cheuk-yan now!
Please support this LabourStart urgent action campaign and spread the word.
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
What a joke. I’m prepared to accept there aren’t easy options here, but there are certainly *bad* ones www.ft.com/content/527d...
ft.com
Thames Water hit by £2bn bill for finance costs and advisers’ fees
Embattled UK utility faces mounting costs as government debates moving ahead with temporary nationalisation
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Hard agree www.ft.com/content/2279...
ft.com
Labour’s muddled migration policy won’t stop thuggery
A government that can’t distinguish between ‘legitimate concerns’ and open racism is only making things worse
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
👀 www.ft.com/content/7c53...
ft.com
EU opens door to bigger corporate mergers
Top competition official says deals that help companies scale up and innovate will get a closer hearing as EU seeks to keep pace with US and China
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Not something I expected - the Labour Government is proposing to scrap the requirement for an annual shareholder vote on remuneration reports (which was brought in by the previous Labour government) tompowdrill.substack.com/p/accountabi...
tompowdrill.substack.com
Accountability versus Allocation in action
Government proposes to substantially reduce reporting, including on governance, and to scrap annual votes on remuneration reports
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
The now publicly-owned British Steel is going to have worker representation on its board. www.linkedin.com/posts/predis...
linkedin.com
Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament | Predistribution Initiative
Worker participation in corporate governance is set to take a step forward in the UK following the change in ownership of British Steel. In a Parliamentary statement in July on the company being take...
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
This guy used to be a GB News presenter. he's got 450k+ followers on Twitter.
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
I'm back on the 'stack but you treat it like soap on a rope cos the quotes and the jokes are so dope. substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com
An anti-ESG front page and other quick snippets
Anti-ESG headlines
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
This is from a portfolio manager’s post on LinkedIn. Avoid the cost of living crunch by simply owning shares in the companies putting up prices. Obviously returns to capital > returns to labour and pricing power is merely a naturally occurring phenomenon. Now go back to sleep, nothing to see here.
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Next parenting thresholds approaching… no-one younger than a teenager in the house from from next week. And early next year they’ll be three adults in it 🥲
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
presumably this is because we need to set a sensible market clearing rate for entry level pensioners or something.....
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
It’s rare for unions to call for boycotts. But Starbucks has dragged its heals for nearly FIVE YEARS on signing a collective agreement with workers who have unionised over 700 stores in the US. www.boycottstarbucks.net
boycottstarbucks.net
BOYCOTT STARBUCKS
Starbucks is the biggest violator of U.S. labor law in modern history. Join the movement - Boycott Starbucks!
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J. Mijin Cha @jmijin.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Of course Dolly was a union member and insisted on employing union musicians 😭
afm.org
AFM Statement on the Passing of Dolly Parton
Today, the entire community of professional musicians mourns the loss of an irreplaceable icon and a generous heart: Dolly Parton. While the world knows her as a global superstar and philanthropist…
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Disappointing I don’t use Twitter anymore but I’m guessing ITFC still does
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
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Will Davies @will-davies.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Some thoughts on the discourse (with nods to @stephenkb.bsky.social @provokedeconomy.bsky.social @annakornbluh.bsky.social and various others)https://substack.com/home/post/p-211963353
substack.com
On Left paranoia
sociology or barbarism
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
🤢
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
The outside of the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
CNT office in Bilbao
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Civil war era bullet holes in San Sebastián
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
A pretty emphatic win www.unitetheunion.org/news-events/...
unitetheunion.org
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Totality
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Think this might be the first anti ESG front page in the UK. Notable that the Tories are aping Reform here, and basically promising to scrap “woke nonsense” introduced under a Conservative government.
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Will Jennings📉🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
X is a major national security vulnerability that UK government and politicians continue to prop up.
theguardian.com
Most X accounts posting about Belfast and Southampton unrest were based outside UK
Exclusive: Analysis shows 55% of accounts were overseas – and seven of 12 most-read posts came from US
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
A bit on shifting metaphors and frames in policy relating to investment substack.com/@socialgover...
substack.com
Chains versus pipelines
Early thoughts on framing and metaphors
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Tom Powdrill @tompowdrill.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
A second Right-of-centre think tank has entered the anti-ESG chat tompowdrill.substack.com/p/a-second-r...
tompowdrill.substack.com
A second Right-of-centre UK think tank issues an anti-ESG report
And it uses "technocrats" as foils
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